Eyleen completed her master’s degree at the University of Lausanne in September 2024.
The Reality of the Modern Labor Market
The 32-year-old graduate has been searching for a job, confronting a disconnect between higher education and the demands of the labor market.
Juggling Survival Jobs to Pay Bills
Throughout her studies in political science, Eyleen did not rely solely on the classroom.
She stacked survival jobs, juggling up to five or six roles simultaneously across the hospitality industry, childcare, and archival work. Hiring managers during subsequent job interviews questioned the eclectic nature of her resume.
Recruiters Criticize Non-Linear Trajectories
Recruiters criticized her work history for a lack of coherence and clarity, telling her they could not trace where she wanted to go with such a CV. That feedback hit Eyleen like a heavy blow. She had trusted that a university degree served as a guarantee for her future, not expecting that her experience would become the stumbling block.
A Shared Frustration for Young Graduates
Eyleen’s situation is not isolated.
About a dozen similar testimonies from young graduates aged 25 to 33 were gathered. These job seekers share a difficulty trying to secure a first step in the professional sphere after completing degrees in humanities, international relations, social sciences, or public administration, which are judged to be too generalist. They have the feeling that they lack the specific experience in the world of work they seek to acquire.
Priced Out and Passed Over
At the same time, these recent graduates share a sentiment: they feel they lack the solid experience in the world of work that they seek to acquire.
